Biden, while raising money in Seattle on Sunday, had this to say: "Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obamalike they did John Kennedy. ... Watch, we're going to have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy." (See video below.)

Biden went on to vouch for Obama's readiness to meet such a challenge. But that, not surprisingly, has gotten lost in the GOP shuffle. The Republican ticket has responded that America, especially at this moment, doesn't need a White House occupant who would invite a "test" from the nation's adversaries.

In pressing that case in Reno, Palin noted that Biden, before he curbed his tongue, had said he could envision "four or five" scenarios for the international threat to an Obama administration to emerge. She offered her guesses on some of them -- featuring Iran or Pakistan or Iraq or the nation of Georgia.

Then she cracked: "But I guess the looming crisis that most worries the Obama campaign right now is Joe Biden's next speaking engagement."

Later in the day, the Democratic ticket survived a Biden appearance in Greeley, Colo. During it, as he discussed whether Obama has the pedigree for the presidency, Biden had an easy retort: Colin Powell thinks so.

-- Don Frederick

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